At 7 PM on Saturday, December 2, the Missouri United Methodist Church choir, accompanied by an array of instruments, will be performing its annual Advent concert. While the first half will feature a variety of carols, three composed by John Rutter, the second half will feature Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” (to be more precise, “Gloria in D).” Both Vivaldi’s Gloria and Rutter’s carols have played significant roles in my musical journey.

When I was in first grade, Mom decided that the “Gloria” would be a great way to teach me about the basics of music: major vs. minor keys; four-four time vs. three-four time; and the unique sounds of the violin, cello, trumpet, and oboe. During many morning and evening meals, one of two recordings of the piece played in the background. The first record consisted entirely of the work, while the second paired the piece with, of all things, Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” (The opening clarinet solo of the Gershwin scared me a bit.)

As for the text, I knew it was in Latin, but didn’t quite know what that meant. I paired the word “Gloria” with a babysitter of the same name. And, as far as I was concerned, “Amen” meant “the end.”

In high school, I began appreciating how the various lines wove together to form those familiar melodies and rhythms. During my junior year in college, I compared Vivaldi’s setting of the “Gloria” text with the settings of Bach, Mozart, Vaughn Williams, Stravinsky, and others in preparation for composing my own mass during my senior year. Since then, more contemporary recordings using the best practices of the period in which the piece was written has drawn me to the dance-like spirit of the work.

While tuned into a New York City white male radio station on a random early Christmas morning in the late 1980s, I listened half-heartedly to standard choral arrangements of garden variety Christmas carols. While I enjoy most of these carols most of the time, on that morning I was restless and bored, searching for something new. As I was just about to change stations, the host, a Catholic priest, announced that he was going to play a new carol composed by someone with the name of John Rutter.

“John who?” I muttered to myself.

The piece, entitled “Star Carol”, was indeed new — and wonderful.

“Isn’t it great that new carols are still being written?” the priest asked at the end of the performance.

“Amen!” I thought.

During the next several years, I became familiar with Rutter’s other carols and more extensive works, which encouraged me to set familiar Christmas carol texts to new melodies. Several of these pieces have been performed, and demos of some of these settings are available at

www.peteraltschul.com

under “Book-Related Information.”

I am grateful to Vivaldi for writing his “Gloria in D” and for Rutter for inspiring me to look at traditional carols in new ways. Thanks, Mom, for noticing that I had a gift for music and using the Gloria” to begin my music education. We adults should support the children around us to find and nurture their talents, which, in my case, made it possible for me to thrive as the only totally blind person in the local high school.

For those in the Columbia, Missouri, area, the December 2 concert will give you the chance to catapult into the Christmas-holiday season, and for those who can’t attend, check out Rutter’s carols, perhaps starting with these three performances.

Star Carol

Candlelight Carol

What Sweeter Music